Illustration
"Graphic design is more anonymous,
all illustration is sold for its particular and individual style."
There was a time when graphic design and illustration were indivisible. Many of the great designers of the 20th century were also illustrators and moved effortlessly between image-making and typographic functionalism. Traditionally, most designers viewed illustration with reverence; many even regarded it as inherently superior to design. And with good reason: design was about the anonymous conveying of messages, while illustration was frequently about vivid displays of personal authorship. Like artists, illustrators signed their work, and some were even public figures (no graphic designer ever enjoyed the fame of Norman Rockwell, for example).
Illustrators are the individuals who create the pictures in textbooks, storybooks, annual reports, cartoons, advertisements, packaging, posters, and anything else that is enhanced and clarified by artwork. Blue Moose Design Services was asked recently to work with a Childrens book Author to Illustrate her new book "Grandma ... Please Don't". This was a new challenge for our artists. But they agreed to try.
Graphic designers are often called upon to produce images that cameras and computers cannot. By using different styles, including photographs, pencil sketches, computer design, paints and collage to create the pictures.
Even with the common use of film and photography, computers, and other technological advances in image reproduction, there will always be a place for creative illustrators with innate artistic flair.
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Shown above
Sample Illustrations from 'Grandma ... Please Don't' by Dani Bull
(Available as an E-Book ... CLICK HERE)
Consider the Challenge
Example #1
Imagine you are five years old, and your dad's about to read you a story. He sits you on his lap, and pulls out a book full of nothing but words. No pictures, nothing for you to look at. The words are hard for you to focus on, and your mind wanders...
Example #2
You open a medical book, and look up rashes. There are three pages of descriptions of rashes, but no visual clues. Your rash sounds like any of the rashes written up, but without a picture to compare it to, you really don't know what is wrong with you.
What is missing from these examples? Illustrations! Pictures tell just as much of a story as words do. They are helpful to children and adults. They clarify things in ways text just can't, and in some instances, books with pictures are just easier to read.